CNN —
Convicted child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has said in a series of interviews from prison that a decades-old photo of Prince Andrew with his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre was “fake”.
The disgraced British socialite is currently serving a 20-year sentence in US federal prison for orchestrating a year-long plot to groom and sexually abuse underage girls with her longtime confidante Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking from a Florida prison to Britain’s TalkTV, which aired a special on Monday night, the 61-year-old – who is also in the photo – said she didn’t think it happened.
“I don’t think for a second it’s real, actually I’m sure it’s not. There has never been an original. I don’t think it happened and certainly it would have been impossible the way it’s described. I have no recollection of going to Tramp [nightclub]’ Maxwell said.
Prince Andrew, one of King Charles III’s younger brothers, has vigorously denied Giuffre’s claim that he was introduced to her at London’s Tramp nightclub with Maxwell in 2001, before Giuffre, then 17, was allegedly forced into sexual relations with the British king .
Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit against Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, in a US court in 2021, alleging multiple allegations of sexual abuse when she was a minor. Andrew later settled out of court for an undisclosed number without admitting wrongdoing, and the case was dismissed. Still, the allegations against the senior royal have severely tarnished his reputation. He stepped down from royal duties in late 2019 and was stripped of his military titles and royal patronage last year.
Maxwell appeared to show little remorse towards Epstein victim and offered no apology in the interviews aired on Monday. Instead, she said victims should “conclude their disappointment and anger at the authorities who allowed it” that the billionaire pedophile died in prison.
Maxwell also told TalkTV that she believes Epstein was murdered — a conspiracy theory for which she offered no evidence. Authorities ruled that Epstein had died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges that accused him of sexually abusing underage girls.
Referring to the victims, Maxwell said, “I hope the trial that has taken place brings them closure.”
Maxwell admitted during her sentencing hearing last year that she was sentenced under the sex trafficking program but did not accept responsibility. She did not testify in her defense during the late 2021 trial, which ended with her conviction on five counts, including child sex trafficking.